Mr Fabricant, MP for Lichfield, said the plan is ill thought out and led to the resignation of senior staff.

Staffordshire ambulance boss Roger Thayne has said he quit his post in protest over the merger.

Barry Johns, head of West Midlands Ambulance Service, also resigned but he is not opposed to the merger.

Under the plans, ambulance trusts in Coventry and Warwickshire, Hereford and Worcester, West Midlands and Staffordshire will join forces.

The West Midlands Service merged with Shropshire in 2001.